Adolescence substance abuse
Instructions: write on adolescent substance abuse and demonstrate how your topic relates to the broad field of psychology
Solution.
Adolescence Substance Abuse
Introduction
The adolescent stage of life has is assumed to be one of the toughest for young people. this is because, they find themselves having to experience many social, emotional and physical changes in their body that can derail them from the right path of life. One of the common occurrences at this stage of life is peer pressure. While there are some elements of positive peer influence among young people, there are instances where negative peer influence has affected many young people. adolescents like being recognized and contributing to the social groups that they belong, yet sometimes the contributions can be catastrophic for their lives. One of the common trends among the young people is the issue of substance abuse.
There are many young people serving behind bars and other correctional facilities after their behavior deteriorated as a result of negative peer influence. This has seen many organisations set up systems and strategies by which they can teach and counsel young people on ways of managing their adolescence and avoiding delinquency behaviors (Thorne & DeBlassie n.d.). Despite these efforts, drug and substance abuse remains high in many countries. This paper presents an examination of this fast growing trend and how interventions can be made to help young people in this stage of life.
Drug and substance abuse among adolescents
By the time people become seniors; they have used and abused drugs at one point in their lives. According to Thorne & DeBlassie (n.d.), by the time young people graduate to land into job positions, about 70% of them have tasted alcohol, 40 % will have tasted cigarettes among other drugs. There are many reasons that have been given for the abuse of drugs by adolescents. First, poor parenting has been cited as an important reason. For instance, modern parents have little time for their children; they are always working away from home and come late. Many of them give the care of their children to nannies and guardians in the hope of getting the resources to fend for the family. Some of the people entrusted with the care of children may not end up molding them in the way that observes moral standards. By the time these children become adolescents, they cannot change from what they have learnt from their peers as a result of little or no parental support. According to Thorne & DeBlassie (n.d.), parents have a duty to be responsible about the way their children are growing and learning new habits. Parents should always teach their children effective ways of life including adherence to rules and regulations.
Secondly, adolescents like learning and having new experiences in life. They will prefer going away from home when not in school and finding new friends (Thorne & DeBlassie n.d.). They prefer dealing with their own problems including doing better and passing in school. According to National Institute on Drug Abuse (n.d), adolescents tend to be “biologically wired” towards seeking new experiences in life and taking risks. The success in these experiences makes them find identity and gain respect from their fellow adolescents. In such a move, trying and using drugs is part of this whole development (National Institute on Drug Abuse, n.d.). The adolescents never want to understand the long-term consequences that drugs and substance abuse has on their lives, by the time they are deep into it, they have become dependants and nee rehabilitation (Thorne & DeBlassie, n.d).
Another important cause of drugs and substance abuse by adolescents is their availability within the neighborhood (National Institute on Drug Abuse, n.d.). In many cities, the school environment is supposed to be a place that is free from people that can harm the learners in one way or another. When the society allows people in the vicinity that can sell drugs to students, the chances of them landing in the hands of adolescents becomes high. In the same way, the family environment should be a place that encourages right moral standards. When parents and older siblings use drugs where adolescents are, they automatically follow suit (Thorne & DeBlassie, n.d.). Young people tend to follow whatever they see their seemingly role models do with the intention that it is the right thing to do. In this regard, parents are supposed to set proper examples for their children.
Trends in adolescent’s substance abuse
According to Thorne & DeBlassie (n.d.), the teenage stage is considered a critical stage of life that is most vulnerable. This is because; the brain of these young people is still under development with high levels of immaturity. This means that young people in this stage of life should be ably directed in making the right decisions and choices of life. Drug abuse has been a major crisis in the United States and in other countries. In recent times, statistics indicate that the use of illicit drugs in the United States has been far much on the rise according to reports by McCoy (n.d.), .in 2013 alone, users of these illicit drugs were estimated to be around 24.6 million for people aged 12 and above (McCoy, n.d.). In this study, 9.4 Percent of the entire population had use illicit drugs at one point in time during their growing years. According to McCoy (n.d.), the figures were about 8.3 percent up from the previous year. In this case, it is important that urgent interventions be set in place to save the future generation.
Adopted from McCoy (n.d.)
In conclusion, it is important to accept that the
young people are an asset o the future. Therefore; everyone should take upon
themselves the responsibility of guiding the in the right way of life. Parents
should take their parenting roles as expected so avoid situations where their
adolescents are taught by life the hard way. reducing the use of drugs and
substances abuse is a step in the right direction in securing a morally upright
society
References
McCoy, O. (n.d.). Novel Intervention Helps Adolescents Dealing with Substance Abuse. Retrieved July 26, 2016, from http://www.surfky.com/index.php/christian/lifestyles/110847-novel-intervention-helps-adolescents-dealing-with-substance-abuse
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (n.d.).Principles of Adolescent Substance Use Disorder Treatment: A Research-Based Guide. Retrieved July 26, 2016, from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/principles-adolescent-substance-use-disorder-treatment-research-based-guide/introduction
Thorne, C. R., & DeBlassie, R. R. (n.d.). Adolescent Substance Abuse. Retrieved July 25, 2016, from http://search.proquest.com/openview/c26b6f33d50e74bd97c0979ea8b01ecc/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1819054